Alternator issue/upgrade

[Rsponsford]

I have a '90 CC Concept on a Gillig chassis with the Detroit 6V92. It came equipped with and has the 160Amp Leece Neville alternator. I don't know how old the previous unit lasted before I replaced it 10 months ago but the new one has failed already. Does anyone know if I can or should upgrade to a higher capacity (180 or 200Amp) alternator without any adverse consequences? I think the current 160Amp unit often has to work near capacity to keep the domestic batteries charged as well as recharging the Chassis batteries.

[deandec]

I have replaced my LN 160A alternator twice in 14 years.

If you are departing with low charged batteries and running lots of house stuff on battery power at the same time, you may be over taxing your alternator and need a bigger one.

We tend to run our generator while underway for rooftop cooling and heating.

That also keeps our batteries charged and the alternator can be lazy.

[John Jones]

I replaced my LN with a Delco 200 amp alternator. It was a direct bolt on for my 2000 allure with a 8.3 cummins. Not sure if it would work for you on your 6v92 but it is a option worth considering.

[Rsponsford]

Turns out my alternator is still under warranty so I'll stick with the 160Amp for now. Going forward I will use the generator more to reduce the demands on the chassis alternator. I also heard back from Gregg Bootes at CC and he said I should be able to upgrade the alternator to a 180Amp or 200Amp without a problem. Thanks for the feedback.

[TQ60]

If under warranty ask about upgrading it.

You may get full credit of what bad one is against a different unit.

Older units more expensive to rebuild and newer ones may be better.

Costs nothing to ask!

[dons2346]

A 160 Amp alternator is a lot. There should be no reason to upgrade to a higher output alternator

[Rsponsford]

Originally Posted by dons2346

A 160 Amp alternator is a lot. There should be no reason to upgrade to a higher output alternator

I agree. They happened to have the same model in stock so I picked it up and installed it yesterday. Hopefully I just happened to get a bad one last time. Besides, now the warranty period starts all over again. Fortunately it's very easy to change out this alternator.

[waternut]

Not sure about starting all over again. Some do but have found that many use the original purchase date to calculate the warranty period. Hopefully the new one will be OK anyway and not need another.